Loved it! Thanks Nick for writing about it again. I didn't bother with photos since those have already been posted. We tried the fried chicken plate plus extra pieces, the curried beef plate with all the sides, the curried jackfruit plate with all the sides, the Indonesian fried rice plate, and the salad with the peanut sauce. We were the only ones in there from about 6:00pm - 6:15pm.

I definitely want to try the fried chicken there, and not take-out next time. The flavor was great but there was no crispness by the time we got it home. I timed it, it was only a 13 min drive, but I think that chicken needs to be eaten right away. Aside from suffering the ride home, it was really great chicken.

My favorite items were the Indonesian fried rice and the curried beef (I forget the name of it). The jackfruit curry has a sneaker heat to it. It's fantastic. I had one bite of the onion relish that came under the deep-fried hard-boiled egg and it had an intense delayed heat that about blew me out of my seat once it hit me.

This is great food and very reasonably priced. Total was $36 for an insane amount of food.

OH...Westsider tip courtesy of Garmin: Take Barnes to Burnside, R on Vista, L on "Market Street Road", L on 12th and you know the rest. That Vista-to-Market Street Road shortcut goes on my Top Garmin Best Finds list. Never knew that road existed (this is not the same Market St that Carafe is on). It's a narrow weavey road, no lights, no stop signs, and cuts through the residential hill coming off Vista dropping right down onto 12th. 13 min door-to-door in 5:45pm rush hour traffic. Brilliant!

Methinks I am like a man, who having struck on many shoals, and having narrowly escap'd shipwreck in passing a small frith, has yet the temerity to put out to sea in the same leaky weather-beaten vessel, and even carries his ambition so far as to think of compassing the globe under these disadvantageous circumstances-Hume

I think a number of things may have factored into their demise, unfortunately. That location is not optimal for one thing. For another, when you dine in there your meal is served on disposable plates with disposable utensils, and while the people are really nice and the food is delicious, everyone's food doesn't all come out at once. At least not during the times I've been there. Maybe it's that there's a certain expectation for a dine-in restaurant to do things differently. I'm not sure, though. This is just my take on it and the observation of some co-workers and acquaintances I've gone with.

That said, if they were to set up in a better location as a brick and mortar and do dine-in a little more upscale (not upscale upscale, but moreso than they did on Jefferson). They'd need to have it a little more together. Perhaps a bit of advertising could help get them more in the public eye and they could make a good go of it. I can't really say, though, as I have never owned a food establishment. It's easy for me to be the armchair critic when I'm pretty ignorant of these things. It's just my viewpoint as a customer.

Better yet, maybe they could open a food cart in one of the busier pods. I think their food would bound to be popular in that sort of setting. Martin Martin told me that most of their business was primarily take-out, so it seems they might do better with less overhead and the expectation of being take-out only.

It's too bad they are gone. They really had something unique with heart, soul, and fantastic cuisine.

Interests:You live to serve this ship<br />So serve well, and live<br />-Ben Hur

Posted 27 August 2010 - 07:41 AM

I think a number of things may have factored into their demise, unfortunately. That location is not optimal for one thing. For another, when you dine in there your meal is served on disposable plates with disposable utensils, and while the people are really nice and the food is delicious, everyone's food doesn't all come out at once. At least not during the times I've been there. Maybe it's that there's a certain expectation for a dine-in restaurant to do things differently. I'm not sure, though. This is just my take on it and the observation of some co-workers and acquaintances I've gone with.

That said, if they were to set up in a better location as a brick and mortar and do dine-in a little more upscale (not upscale upscale, but moreso than they did on Jefferson). They'd need to have it a little more together. Perhaps a bit of advertising could help get them more in the public eye and they could make a good go of it. I can't really say, though, as I have never owned a food establishment. It's easy for me to be the armchair critic when I'm pretty ignorant of these things. It's just my viewpoint as a customer.

Better yet, maybe they could open a food cart in one of the busier pods. I think their food would bound to be popular in that sort of setting. Martin Martin told me that most of their business was primarily take-out, so it seems they might do better with less overhead and the expectation of being take-out only.

It's too bad they are gone. They really had something unique with heart, soul, and fantastic cuisine.

Best regards,

Amanda

From what I've read of their online reviews around teh internets it does look like they suffered from the problem of expectations. It seemed to me that they were going for a fast food type operation but people went expecting a "restaurant". I did notice they were getting a fair number of non food related politically motivated negative yelp reviews too. At one time there were a few 1 star based solely on their using disposables. As dispicable as Yelp is, it matters and it's here to stay.

They were nice people and seemed to have a loyal audience. Perhaps they'll either find their niche elsewhere or choose to match what they offer to people's expectations.

Methinks I am like a man, who having struck on many shoals, and having narrowly escap'd shipwreck in passing a small frith, has yet the temerity to put out to sea in the same leaky weather-beaten vessel, and even carries his ambition so far as to think of compassing the globe under these disadvantageous circumstances-Hume

My opinion for the reason why they closed is that the cuisine was inaccessible to many people. I personally introduced several people to the place, but I just took over the ordering for them. There are a lot of unadventurous people out there. When they read the menu and don't understand what it is, they walk away.

IMO, it is not a bad location. Chef Naoko does a great job there, so does Westcafe on the corner. The Thai place (though sub-par, IMO) is always busy too.

Though I live nearby, the only places that I frequent regularly on that block are Chef Naoko and ToJ.